


a sibling thing

by walfs



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-01 20:29:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8637031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/walfs/pseuds/walfs
Summary: some snapshots of vex and vax being shits to each other





	

**Author's Note:**

> view the art side [here](http://sultxsto.tumblr.com/post/153624694867/heres-the-first-piece-i-did-for-the-cr-bang-along)!

**1**

Of all the paths and passages they could’ve taken, of course they’d end having to take the one with barely any wiggle room. Vex shimmies sideways, stone on both sides of her, keeping her movement limited.

Above her, she feels a small gust of air and heard the flapping of wings. Before she can move, there came a gentle tug on her ear. She swats at it as best she can and feels another burst of wind, her fist nailing only empty air. Damn his wings and free range of movement.

“Heya, Stubby,” Vax greets. “You doing alright in there?”

“I’d be doing much better if I didn’t have someone yanking my ear every two seconds.”

“What’s a little tweak or two between siblings?”

Vex scoots herself further along the path. From around the next bend, she catches sight of the switch that hopefully opens the door blocking the rest of the party and gives a sigh. Just a few more feet…

There’s a sharp tug on her ear again. Vex’s arm shoots out towards Vax, hoping to at least get a handful of feathers but instead smacks right into firm, painful stone. She swears heavily.

“That looked like it hurt,” Vax notes, sounding smug.

“I’ll show you _hurt_ ,” Vex promises, her voice low and growling. She wraps her newly throbbing hand around the lever, pulls, then raises her arms up.

Within the walls she can hear the grinding of gears and a sudden rush of liquid; hissing from the cracks, a sharp-smelling green liquid begins to ooze out. It doesn’t get any closer before Vax grabs her arms and lifts her up, out from the confining, newly acidic death trap that she’d been winding her way through.

Vex tips her head back to look up at her brother, smiling. “Get your deity to pass some wings on to me.”

“Yeah, sure,” Vax snorts. “I’ll get right on that.”

 

**2**

‘Spoiled’ is not the word Vex would use to describe their group in most situations. They’ve gone through their fair share of hardship and earned every single luxury they’ve managed to pry from shitty situations-- but it’s been a long time since they’ve had to camp out without Scanlan’s mansion and they are _spoiled rotten_ by it.

Vax has given up on attempting to pitch tents. He sits with his back to a thick tree trunk, lounging, while Keyleth carefully arranging branches overhead so the rain falling around them can’t get through and drown them while they sleep. Vex drifts over to her on her broom and helps tie the branches together.

“You could help, y’know,” she calls over her shoulder.

“I already used my wings today.”

“Yes, and what a good use of them, too. That four foot jump from one cliff to another was far too risky.”

“The ground was unstable!” Vax protests. “Listen, when you get wings, feel free to dictate how I use mine.” He pauses. “Also, you missed a spot. I’m getting dripped on.”

Vex glances over to Keyleth, still fussing with the knots on another set, and lets go of the branches. They whip back into place, opening a hole in their makeshift roof. The storm is bearing down on them heavier than before, more of a river coming down than anything resembling rain. Vax splutters, caught perfectly in the downpour.

“Vex!”

“Oh dear.” Vex turns to him with a face of pure innocence in place. “You look a bit damp, brother.”

“When you come down here I’m going to rustle your hair right off,” he promises. His hair is hanging in soppy curtains down his face, arms wrapped around himself for warmth; overall, he looks more like a drowned rat than anything threatening.

(Nevermind that he could look like Grog and she’d still find all his threats towards her empty.)

“Sorry, what was that? You need another rinsing?”

“I’ll give _you_ a rinsing,” Vax mutters, wringing the water from his hair.

Keyleth rolls her eyes and gathers up the branches Vex let loose, quickly tying them down before they were involved in anymore familial warfare.

“Siblings,” she mutters fondly.

 

**3**

It’s not a great beast that they fight, given their history with prior enemies, but it’s still a victory. Also, given their history, they stay in position with their weapons drawn until Scanlan’s voice comes over the earrings with news. 

“We’ve got a hoard here,” he says. Vex can hear the grin in his voice and matches it. “Looks like a lot of junk for the most part.”

“But?” Vex interrupts. Grog laughs, way down on the snow-covered ground below; she doesn’t need her earring to hear the echoing boom of it.

“But there might be a few unknown shiny things and a pile of gold large enough to buy a brothel of our own.”

“What an investment,” Percy deadpans.

“If you’re worried about being shown up, you should be.”

Vex tunes out their bickering, mind full of prospective treasure. Scanlan hadn’t said if there were any weapons or items, but perhaps they were buried within the _literal pile of gold_. Gods, she loved the hoarding kinds of creatures; nothing screamed success more than loot you had to make room for.

She’s still a good five hundred or so feet from the cave when she hears the rustle of feathers behind her, feels the wind from what she knows are Vax’s wings. She turns her head to look at him. He’s grinning wide, one of his ‘about to do something shitty’ smiles. Vex narrows her eyes.

He coasts up beside her, leans in, whispers “Dibs on all the good shit in the pile!”, and then rockets off. Vex splutters.

“Like hell!”

Just like that, the thrum of adrenaline is back. She pulls her body closer to the broom, tightening the grip of her thighs around it, and urges it faster. He’s got a head start on her, but his boots have worn off at least, and ahead of them is dense forest.

Vex weaves her way through the trees, gaining ground each time Vax’s wingspan trips him up or smacks into the more wild-growing branches. She reaches out to grab his cloak, fingertips just brushing it, almost able to grab and yank him back.

And then the trees open up into a clearing, exposing the mouth of the cave where the others are gathered. Free from the fight with the trees, Vax starts pulling ahead once more.

“Don’t worry, Stubby,” Vax calls back over his shoulder, laughing. “I’ll leave you a gem or two!”

“I’ll give you a goddamn gem or two, you fuck.” Vex growls, pushing herself upright. It slows her down, but she won’t be able to catch him with speed. Instead, she draws her bow, fishes out the entangling arrow that Percy made for her so very long ago, and takes aim.

Fast as Vax is, the arrow is faster. It splits open just before it hits him, the metal tip shooting out a series of thing ropes attached to baubles that wrap around one of Vax’s wings. He lets out a startled squawk, and immediately begins to drop.

Unfortunately, Vex is so wrapped up in admiring the arrow and preening at her shot that she doesn’t notice how quickly she’s gained on her brother. There isn’t enough time to stop the broom and Vax’s flailing body smacks right into her, knocking her from the broom with enough force to snap the tether and send it spinning away.

They aren’t far from the ground but the impact still knocks the breath from them both. Tangled up in Vax’s wings, which are tangled up in her arrow, the two of them go rolling through the snow in a mess of limbs and feathers and newly loosened black hair.

“Fucking ow,” Vax grunts. He turns to Vex with a massive frown and shakes the slush from his free wing. Right onto Vex’s head. “You _shot me_.”

“Shot _at_ you,” she corrects.

“Cheater.”

With her broom out of reach, all Vex can do is grab him by the collar of his armor and shove him face-first back into the snow. A tragedy. He will be missed.

At the mouth of the cave, Pike watches with a fond smile as Vax resurfaces with a gasp, his teeth chattering, and shoves two handfuls of snow down his sister’s tunic. She shrieks.

“What’cha lookin’ at, Pikey?” Grog asks, deeper inside the cave as he shovels gold into the bag of holding. A few pieces miss the opening and roll across the floor to her feet. Pike hums peacefully.

“Snow angels.”


End file.
